The XEC variant has spread across 27 countries, including France and the US, infecting more than 600 people just ahead of winter respiratory illness season.
XEC is a recombinant version of SARS-CoV-2, formed when a person is infected with multiple strains simultaneously, leading to the exchange of genetic material.
Symptoms of the XEC variant have been mild so far, despite its lineage being part of the more severe Omicron variant that peaked in 2022.
Recombinant variants, like XEC, are not new; XBB was a significant COVID variant in 2023, showing that such mutations are an ongoing phenomenon.
Collection
[
|
...
]